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Four Quadrants of Bootstrapping: Strength | Passion | Wisdom | Stamina


4WeekStartup (4WS) shares two decades of lessons from a global network of (mostly Silicon Valley based) bootstrapping entrepreneurs who have built successful businesses ranging from lifestyle businesses to companies with revenues in tens and valuations in hundreds of millions of dollars - without any Venture Capital funding. 
No hi-tech entrepreneur has to choose between risking it all or not venturing into entrepreneurship at all.

VISION & THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF AGILE ENTREPRENEURS

Entrepreneurs with "passion" and "empathy" should never fail - if they work collaboratively to reduce risk & cost, and increase knowledge & mutual-support, in a framework like 4WeekStartup (4WS).
THE MISSION OF THE 4WS 
To help any and all hi-tech entrepreneurs achieve success without pre-selecting entrepreneurs for "quality". (For instance, Y-Combinator accepts about 3% of all applicants - we accept 100% of them.) If you're a founder of a hi-tech product startup - with passion & empathy for others in your shoes, you're an Agile Entrepreneur.
Since 2006, Agile Entrepreneurs has been teaching entrepreneurs how to succeed on their own terms, with our without investor funding. The "4WeekStartup (4WS) Bootstrapper" program helps entrepreneurs sharpen their Operational Strategy, Business & Product Strategy, Go-to-Market Strategy, and Product Development Strategy.
4WS Goals for any & every bootstrapping hi-tech product entrepreneur are:
  • 7 days to Validation,
  • 4 weeks to Traction, and
  • 3 months to Product/Market Fit and positive cash-flow.
If this was a course in a university, and entrepreneurs were students, then the time taken to Product/Market Fit and positive cash flow would result in the following grades:
  • A+: <=3 months; A: 3-6 months; B: 6-12 months; C: 12-24 months.
The 4WS Bootstrapper program gives entrepreneurs 1-on-1 coaching in the Four Pillars of successful Bootstrapping, a mentor network of dozens of successful bootstrapping entrepreneurs, Shared Resources through collaboration (group time barter, inner circle of free volunteers & outer orbit of paid professionals), and cutting edge Product Development strategies that exponentially reduce Lead Time of Product Pipeline & Cycle Time of Engineering Pipeline.

Four Pillars of Successful Bootstrapping

  1. STRENGTH: Operational Strategy
  2. PASSION: Business & Product Strategy
  3. WISDOM: Go-to-Market Strategy
  4. STAMINA: Product Development Strategy
Entrepreneurs collaborate to maximize their Strength, Passion, Wisdom, and Stamina in three ways:

Three Circles of Collaboration

  • Founder Core ... of Passion & Empathy (these are your wise entrepreneurs who learn by collaborating to solve problems of other entrepreneurs)
  • Inner Circle ... of Love (for the idea, the technology, the problem/solution, the entrepreneur, startups in general - these are volunteers & interns who have empathy for passionate entrepreneurs, and want to contribute)
  • Outer Orbit … of Money (getting paid by being highly productive, competent, independent, ethical professionals who want to leverage their special set of skills on-demand to meet the highly demanding needs of the entrepreneurs)

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